USA > Missouri > Greene County > Past and present of Greene County, Missouri, early and recent history and genealogical records of many of the representative citizens, Volume II > Part 93
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
Although Mr. Watson paid more taxes than any other citizen of his school district he always advocated and voted for the constitutional limit for school purposes.
HENRY C. YOUNG.
Henry C. Young, descended from a family of pioneers, was born near Louisville, Kentucky, in 1835, being brought to southwest Missouri as an infant in the early settlement of this country. His father, Gabriel Richard- son Young, born a generation before in the same place, inherited a change of name from his father whose family, in Wales, had borne the name of Yong. The emigrant ancestor, cherishing the memory of wrongs resulting from the iniquity of the entail system, sought forgetfulness in the border- land, taking part with the followers of Daniel Boone in the conquest of "The Dark and Bloody Ground," since known as Kentucky. He married a Miss Stillwell. Their children went in different directions on leaving the Kentucky home. Gabriel Richardson Young, who had married Nancy Mc- Kenzie, of Charleston, South Carolina, followed the immigration of his kinsman, Alexander McKenzie, to this country. Mckenzie sojourned two years on a place three and a half miles south of where the town of Spring- field was afterward laid out, being one of the first settlers in this vicinity.
1795
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
removing, when neighbors became numerous, to the Spring river country, west of the present site of Mount Vernon. Mrs. Nancy Mckenzie-Young, who was the only daughter of her family, had ten brothers who came to southwest Missouri with the early settlers, all of them eventually moving on, with the continuous emigration of pioneers seeking larger freedom, to locations in Texas, where the MeKenzies are well known. Gabriel Rich- ardson Young was well along in years when he arrived in the Spring river country and began preparations for the establishment of his new home and he did not long survive the event, leaving his family to meet the difficulties which beset pioneers, in somewhat straitened circumstances. Henry C. was the oldest of three boys, his brothers being J. Mansil Bonaparte and Rich- ardson. The sisters were. Gabrella, afterward Mrs. Bennett Wellman; Amanda, Mrs. Stone-Hardin; and Mary Ellen, Mrs. T. A. Sherwood. Two other sisters, Sarah and Pauline, died in their youth. Henry worked and studied by turns, as a farmer boy, and this he continued by turns while en- gaged in different occupations in which he contributed to the support of the family. He was about half grown when Mr. Wellman, who had opened a store at Cape Fair, in Stone county, took the boy in as a clerk, which was his initiation in commercial pursuits, which he followed successfully while completing his education.
He attended the Arkansas College at Fayetteville, making great prog- ress in a short time and altogether utilizing his advantages in a manner which qualified him for important undertakings and won him favor with Robert Graham, president of the institution, and other men of note whom he met at that time. His energy and perseverance in the face of difficulties attracted general attention and he was known throughout his life for the pertinacity with which he adhered to his purposes and carried out his work. While in St. Louis on his first trip to the city he was introduced in the house of Hargadine & Company and was by them intrusted with some important col- lections. He attended to this business with such promptness and diligence that he became their permanent representative in this section.
He married, at Mount Vernon, in 1858. Isabella Robinson, daughter of William and Nancy (Kelsy) Robinson, related to the Robinson family of Troupe county, Georgia, and the Kelseys, of Napa, California. After living in Mount Vernon a short time the couple moved to St. Louis and made their home in Cote Brilliante, a suburb of that city. Four sons were born to them, namely : Charles Graham and Henry C. Jr., in Mount Vernon ; Robert E. Lee and Gabriel Richardson, in Cote Brilliante.
In the meantime. Henry C. Young read law, and, after being admitted to the bar, formed a partnership with T. A. Sherwood. Beginning practice at Mount Vernon, the firm of Sherwood & Young soon became widely known, afterward moving their office to Springfield. Mr. Young took a
1796
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
prominent part in what has been called "The Missouri Movement," one of the initial steps in the beginning of the reaction against the ascendancy of radicalism in the North which followed the close of the Civil war. B. Gratz Brown was elected governor, a new constitution was written for Mis- souri, the Democrats came into power in this state and soon afterward throughout the entire South. Judge Sherwood was elected as one of the justices of the Supreme Court. Mr. Young was named as one of the first board of railroad commissioners by Governor Charles H. Hardin, whose cause of reform he had championed early, but declined in favor of General Marmaduke, for whom he had solicited the position. President Peirce, of the Atlantic & Pacific railroad, then building into the Southwest under diffi- culties, had heard of the indefatigable Henry Young and he was employed at the munificent salary of three thousand dollars to do as much work as is now ordinarily allotted to several railroad attorneys. Among the conces- sions which he secured at that time was a grant of ten thousand acres for every mile of a branch line to be built from Red river through eastern Texas to Sabine Pass, a distance of four hundred miles, and another grant to a subsidiary company of the Atlantic & Pacific for a branch from Central Texas to Laredo on the Rio Grande. 'In the selection of these routes the building of important lines which have since materialized was anticipated, but the promoters of the pioneer projects were robbed of all benefits by the hard fate which precipitated the panic of Black Friday in 1873, just as their projects were getting under way, Mr. Young then being in New York on his way to London to negotiate the sale of the bonds. He was interested in a number of important enterprises in Springfield and the Southwest in those days. Later he formed a partnership with Col. C. W. Thrasher and the firm of Thrasher & Young held a leading place in the practice here for a number of years. Notable among the matters which they had in hand in the course of an extensive practice was the litigation in connection with the issuance of bonds in aid of the Hannibal & Saint Joe railroad in which they won for taxpayers contesting the legality of the bonds in a series of suits extending through about twenty years until a decision was finally rendered in a Federal court in favor of the bondholders as innocent purchasers.
Mr. Young was a member of the Christian church and a Master Mason. He died at his home here in 1886. Among those who hold him in kindly remembrance is Professor Jonathan Fairbanks, who says: "He was a gen- tleman in every sense of that word, urbane and full of cheerfulness, courte- ous to everyone, dignified and well poised, big hearted and generous, even to his enemies, of whom he had but few. He was a man of large calibre, capable of grasping any situation, making the most of every opportunity. As his opponents learned to know him they became his friends. His person-
1797
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
ality won the hearts of all. It was my pleasure to know him intimately. If I needed a friend in any matter I knew that I could find one in him. He was a man to be remembered for his rare qualities, one of those whose life is a blessing to any community. I loved him as a brother."
WILLIAM S. MILLER.
One of the best methods to keep the soil from becoming depleted of its natural strength is by proper rotation of crops. Some of our farmers grow too much grain and not enough grass on their land, especially if it is old land. With a little study and experience it is always possible to determine exactly what particular crop should succeed another. This problem seems to be well understood by William S. Miller, who is engaged in general farming in the western part of Greene county. He has spent his life in this vicinity and has watched closely the best methods of farming.
Mr. Miller was born in Pond Creek township, Greene county, Missouri, March 27, 1851. He is a son of James and Ellen (McDaniel) Miller, and is the youngest of two children; his sister, Sarah T. Miller, married Edward Potts, of Republic, and they have five children. James Miller, the father, was born in Tennessee where he spent his early life on a farm and was educated in the rural schools. He remained in his native state until the breaking out of the Civil war when he removed to Greene county, Missouri. He enlisted in the Confederate army and served faithfully. HJe engaged in farming here until his death, which occurred when our subject was a child, and the mother of our subject also died when he was young. So he was reared by his grandparents on the mother's side, William and Sarah Ann (Glades) McDaniel, who were also natives of Tennessee, from which state they came to Greene county, Missouri, in 1830, among the earliest set- tlers, and here spent the rest of their lives on a farm.
Mr. Miller spent his boyhood on his grandfather's farm and there worked hard during the crop season, and in the winter time he attended the district schools. When twenty years of age he left the home of his grand- parents and purchased eighty acres nearby and here he has since resided. He is making a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle and keeps a fine herd.
Mr. Miller was married in AApril, 1880, to Nancy E. Jackson, a daugh- ter of William Jackson, a farmer and school teacher, who came from Georgia to Greene county, Missouri, in 1854, making the long overland journey with wagon and team, and began life here in typical pioneer fashion as did the parents of our subject, and his grandparents. Mr. Jackson's death oc-
1798
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
curred a number of years ago, but Mrs. Jackson is still living at the ad- vanced age of seventy-eight years.
The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller: Ritta Ethel, born November 17, 1888, is at home; Bertha Alma, born September 8, 1891, is at home ; Emmet Clarence, born on July II, 1893, has a taste for mechanics; Alpha Ellen, born July 7, 1895, married William Carter, a farmer living in Center township, Greene county; Tressie Marie, born De- cember 1, 1898, died June 13, 1899; Ernest Lester, born October 29, 1901.
Politically, Mr. Miller is a Republican, and he is liberal in his religious views, attending no particular church, being a friend of all denominations.
JAMES S. COWDEN.
James S. Cowden was born in Greene county, Missouri, September II, 1851. He is a son of James A. and Margaret A. (Steele) Cowden, both natives of Tennessee, where they grew to maturity and were married and there made their home until 1842, when they emigrated to Greene county, Missouri, locating on a farm. Here the father found a country little de- veloped and he endured the hardships incident to life in a new country, but was a man of courage and a hard worker and in due course of time established a home for his family, but died in early life, in 1851, when his son, James S., was an infant. He also left two other small children, Mary married Robert Pace, a ranchman of Calexico, California, and they have two sons and two daughters; John F., who is connected with the Heer Dry Goods Company, of Springfield, Missouri, married Malissa J. Walsh and they have one child, Cora Lee. The mother of these children was a woman of rare fortitude and industry and she accepted the discouraging situation with good grace, after the death of her husband, and reared her children in comfort and respectability, giving them such educational advantages as those early days in the rural districts afforded, and kept them together. In 1861, she married again, her second husband being W. R. Patterson, and she lived to an advanced age, her death occurring in 1897, and her remains repose in the cemetery at Pleasant Hope, Polk county, this state.
James S. Cowden grew to manhood on the old homestead, where he was born in a log cabin. Being ambitious to own the farm left by his father, he began buying out the other heirs when eighteen years of age, and he remained there, successfully operating the farm until in the early seventies. He continued farming in his native community until 1893, also ran a saw- mill for some time during this period and at the same time raised and handled live stock, buying and shipping to the markets. He made his home
1799
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
in Springfield from 1890 until 1893, then purchased the Bennett Robinson farm, ten miles north of Springfield, to which he removed and on which he lived three years, then located in Morrisville, Polk county, for the purpose of educating his children in the college there. Several years later he pur- chased a large farm near Brookline, Greene county, and moved thereto, where he has since maintained his home, and he still owns three hundred and twenty acres of this place, which is one of the best improved and most pro- ductive farms in the township. In 1908 he purchased a residence in Spring- field, at the corner of Walnut and Main streets, which was subsequently destroyed by fire. A few years ago he purchased a tract of valuable land in Arizona, where he spends a part of his time, engaged in raising alfalfa and cattle. He has been a general farmer and stock man all his life, and is regarded as one of the best judges of live stock in the western part of Greene county, where the major portion of his life has been spent. He often feeds large herds of cattle for the market. He has also engaged to some extent in road contracting work, in fact, has built more good roads than any one man in this part of the county.
Mr. Cowden was married in July, 1877, to Sarah E. Wallace, who is a daughter of Allen and Mira Wallace, an old and highly respected family of Greene county. Mrs. Cowden is one of seven children.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cowden, named as follow: Christy is living in Phoenix, Arizona; Maude married William C. McClure, a farmer of Republic, this county, and they have three children, Dwight, Mary and Marjorie; Claude W., a ranchman and stock man of Arizona and is manager of the large Glendale Cattle Company; Efton Ray is associated with his brother in the cattle business in Arizona. The two sons and the eldest daughter are unmarried.
Politically Mr. Cowden is a Democrat. He is an advocate of good roads, and has given both time and money in this worthy cause in his vicinity.
JOHN BECKERLEG.
Enjoying the distinction of being the oldest engineer on the Frisco system, John Beckerleg is deserving of special mention in the present volume. Forty years is a long time to work for one company, and in one line of work, but that is his record. It indicates many things to the contemplative mind, among them being the fact that he has been not only faithful but efficient, trustworthy and reliable, for a railroad company is not going to trust its costly rolling stock, to saying nothing of the lives of its patrons- the passengers-to men who are not true and tried. It also indicates stability.
1800
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
Some men fly from one occupation to another, go from one place to another, are never settled, never satisfied; they may be railroaders by profession, but if they stick to the work forty years they have perhaps worked for a score of roads.
Mr. Beckerleg was born in the extreme southern part of the Dominion of Canada, just across the river from Detroit, Michigan, November II, 1852. He is a son of John and Margaret (Glendenning) Beckerleg, both natives of England, the father born April 1, 1825. He received a good education, learned the trade of stone cutter when young, and followed the , same the rest of his life. When young he emigrated to Canada, where he established his future home. He was twice married, our subject being by his second wife. Our subject's father died on October 4, 1869, and the mother's death occurred in November, 1885, both dying in Canada. Our subject is. one of five children, three of whom are still living, namely: John, of this review; James lives in Paris, Texas; William and George are deceased ; Joseph lives in British Columbia.
John Beckerleg grew to manhood in Canada, where he received his education, and there he resided until 1870, when he came to Pacific, Mis- souri, which was on the east end of the Frisco railroad, and there he went to work, on March 17th, of that year, in the machine shops, and later became a blacksmith, and before the end of that year he was given a run as fireman on the east end of the division, later he ran on the middle division, from Dixon to Springfield, then worked as extra out of Springfield and in various capacities, until 1875, when he had a regular run as engineer on a freight train. In 1880 he was promoted to extra passenger engineer, and in 1882, was given a regular passenger run from Pierce City, Missouri, to Van Buren, Arkansas; continuing as engineer of a passenger he was given a. run in 1886 out of Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and for a number of years he has been running between that city and Springfield, and is still active and as good an engine driver as at any time in his career. As stated, he is the oldest engineer on the Frisco, in point of years of service, and is deserving of a great deal of credit for his faithful work.
Mr. Beckerleg was married July 23, 1874, near Sullivan, Missouri, to Retta Waits, who was born in August, 1854, twelve miles from Rolla, this. state. She is a daughter of John F. and Mary (Botoff) Waits, the father a native of Columbus, Ohio, and the mother was born in Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania. Mr. Waits was an iron molder by trade. His death occurred in Springfield, Missouri, in March, 1888, and his wife preceded him to the grave in 1883. They had made their home in Springfield many years. They were both of German blood.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Beckerleg, namely : John
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
Waits, born on September 8, 1875, in Franklin county, Missouri, received a common school education, and early in life gave evidences of a mechanical turn of mind. He began working in the round-house in Springfield, for the Frisco, and later was given a position as fireman, and has been in the road service ever since 1898; twelve years ago he was given charge of a switch engine and is still thus employed; he married Vedie May White, a native of Greene county, this state; they have no children; he is a member of the Brotherhood of Firemen No. 51. The second child of our subject was Charles Wesley, who was born in 1877, and died when three months old. Walter Blanchard, the third child, was born April 20, 1886. He received a public school education, and he began railroading as a fireman before he was twenty-one years of age, and he is now an engineer. On November 2, 1908, he married Edna Morris, which union has been without issue.
Politically, John Beckerleg is a Republican. He belongs to the Masonic Order, is a member of Division No. 83, Brotherhood of Engineers, and religiously he is an Episcopalian.
CLAYTON R. PICKERING.
That the career of such a man as the late Clayton R. Pickering, for many years a popular justice of the peace in Greene county, besides being treasured in the hearts of relatives and friends, should have its public record also, is peculiarly proper because a knowledge of men whose substantial reputation rests upon their attainments and character must exert a whole- some influence upon the rising generation. While transmitting to future generations the chronicle of such a life, it is with the hope of instilling into the minds of those who come after the important lesson that honor and station are sure rewards of individual exertion.
Mr. Pickering was born near Greenville, Tennesee, May 27, 1841. He was a son of Samuel Pickering and wife, both natives of Tennesee, where they were reared and married. Our subject's mother died when he was quite small and he was reared by his step-mother. who was Margaret John- son before her marriage. Samuel Pickering devoted his active life to farni- ing. A few years after the Civil war he removed with his family, including our subject, to Missouri, locating in Green county. He was the father of eight children, four by each of his wives, our subject being one of the first union, and was a first cousin of David Crockett, the famous scout and adventurer.
Clayton R. Pickering grew to manhood in Tennesee and worked on the farm when a boy. He received a limited education in the common
1802
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
schools there, and later in life became a well informed man by home study. He left school when the Civil war began and enlisted in the First Tennessee Cavalry, serving in the Union army under Gen. Sherman, and was in the Atlanta campaign and on the march to the sea, and was in many important engagements and saw considerable hard service during the three years of his enlistment. He narrowly escaped death many times, once in particular when his horse was shot from under him, wounding him by the fall. When a young man he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed after locating in Greene county, Missouri, and was regarded as an exceptionally skilled workman. He finally located in the town of Republic, this county, where he served as postmaster for some time, then was elected justice of the peace for two terms. In 1902 he located in Springfield, where he spent the last years of his life, and served as justice of the peace, in which capacity he proved to be an efficient, unbiased and popular public servant, his decisions always being fair to all parties and showing a sound knowledge of the basic principles of jurisprudence, and they seldom met with reversal at the hands of higher tribunals.
Mr. Pickering was married July 3, 1902, in Springfield, to Mrs. Vassie (Douglass) Morris, who was born in Greene county, Missouri, on April I, 1863, and here grew to womanhood and was educated in the common schools. She is a daughter of Rufus and Caroline (Bottom) Douglass, both natives of Tennessee, where they grew up and were married, and from there moved to Springfield, Missouri, in an early day and they spent the rest of their lives on a farm in Greene county. Mr. Douglass was also a trader in live stock, etc., and was a highly respected man. His political relations were with the Republican party. His family consisted of these children: Jonathan, Eliza- beth, Jane Vassie, our subject's wife, and Amanda. Mr. Douglass came to Greene county, Missouri, on horseback in an early day, but died soon there- after. The death of Mrs. Pickering's father occurred on December 31, 1891, and her mother died on August 13, 1902.
Mrs. Pickering was first married to Elvis Morris, by whom she had one child, Opal Morris, who was born October 18, 1889, and she was reared in Springfield, where she received a good education. She is living with her mother in their home on West Mount Vernon street. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Pickering was without issue.
Politically Mr. Pickering was a Republican, and religiously he belonged to the Congregational church. His death occurred on November 1, 191I, when past his three score and ten.
Mrs. Pickering's uncle, James Douglass, had a good many slaves before the Civil war, but finally freed them, however, but not until one of them murdered his wife. The guilty negro was hanged. This uncle raised an orphan child, Seley Johnson, who was well known here.
1803
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
REUBEN J. HIATT.
While such men as the late Reuben J. Hiatt are not lauded in the public press as the leaders of world's workers, yet they perform their roles in life's drama quite as successfully and are just as necessary in the general scheme of things as their more famous compeers, for it was Longfellow who wrote that "each thing in its place is best," and might as well have said that each person in his place is best, for mother Nature designed each of us for a specific niche in the world and it is our fault if we do not fill it properly and faithfully. Mr. Hiatt was a man of many strong natural characteristics and he tried to do his best in whatever capacity he was placed, and his life, which has been closed by the common fate awaiting all that is mortal, was a useful and successful one.
Mr. Hiatt was born, March 27, 1860, in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, where the Hiatts had long been well established. He was a son of Ormstrom and Elizabeth (Roberts) Hiatt, both natives of Kentucky also, where they grew to maturity, were educated in the old-time schools and were married and established their home. Ormstrom Hiatt has been engaged in active farming from his boyhood until the present time, and is still living near the town of Crab Orchard, Kentucky. His family consisted of twelve children, four of whom are still living. He is now advanced in years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.